B2B appointment setting for webshops
B2B appointment setting with webshops is decided before the call: the channel (own site, marketplace or EDI), the country, and the legal form. This guide cites Eurostat, the CNIL, FPS Economy and the ACM.
The short answer
Yes, B2B appointment setting works with webshops, marketplace sellers and wholesalers who order through EDI. It does not work with one list and one script. Three facts, taken from official sources, change the work before the first call.
The first is the channel. In 2024, among EU enterprises with web sales, 85.65% used their own website or app, and 45% used an e-commerce marketplace. An enterprise can use both: the shares do not add up.[1] The second is the country. In Belgium, telephone protection covers every subscriber, including a business.[5] The third is legal form. In the Netherlands, the ACM treats an eenmanszaak, a vof and a maatschap as natural persons.[7]
This guide cites the authorities. It does not replace the statute or advice from your own counsel.
Are you in scope?
This guide is for you if you sell to online-trade businesses, or if you are a webshop seeking meetings with other businesses:
- you sell payments, logistics, marketplace tooling, a PIM, returns handling or invoicing;
- you serve sellers on Bol.com, Amazon, an own site, or an EDI flow;
- you are a webshop and you want meetings with professional buyers, resellers or public buyers;
- you outsource appointment setting in France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg.
If you are calling consumers, this guide does not apply. Since 11 August 2026, the CNIL requires prior consent before telephone prospecting of consumers.[2]
B2B appointment setting: what works for webshops
The word "e-commerce" covers three buyers. Mixing them misses the decision-maker, and sometimes the legal regime.
Eurostat, data extracted in February 2026, measures 2024 across enterprises in general, not an appointment-setting market. E-sales were 19.49% of turnover. Orders via websites or apps were 8.39%; EDI-type messages were 11.07%.[1] By value, the EDI flow outweighs the webshop. If you sell to wholesalers, the meeting is with the person who owns the order flow, not the person who picks the site theme.
On the web, 4.34% of enterprise turnover came from sales to other enterprises and public authorities, against 4.04% to private consumers.[1] A web B2B share exists. It is thin, and it does not say who picks up the phone. In France, web sales were only 4.05% of enterprise turnover, and web sales to other enterprises and public authorities were 1.96%.[1] A French "e-commerce" list is, in large part, a consumer-sales list. Qualifying it before calling is not optional.
In Luxembourg, 14.7% of enterprises made e-sales in 2024, just after Romania (14.57%) and far from Lithuania (43.03%).[1] The pool is narrow: a script copied from a large market runs out quickly. In Belgium, 7.32% of enterprises used both web and EDI, the second-highest share in the Union after Denmark (7.56%).[1] There, the same name can be a webshop and an EDI buyer. Ask. Do not guess.
What each country requires before the first call
The rule does not travel. Where an official page could not be re-read, the guide says so.
| Country | What the authority says | What it means for a webshop |
|---|---|---|
| France | Since 11 August 2026, a consumer may not be prospected by telephone without prior consent, subject to exceptions (Consumer Code article L. 223-1, law of 30 June 2025). A professional may be contacted on legitimate interest if the offer relates to that person's profession, after information and with a simple, free objection.[2] For email, the CNIL draws the same line: consent for individuals, objection for professionals.[3] | A mobile published on a shop profile is not automatically a business number. Treat it as B2B only if the call concerns the person's profession. Every contact must name the organisation and offer a simple refusal.[2] |
| Belgium | Every Belgian telephone subscriber is protected, whether a consumer, a business or an association.[5] Before a direct-marketing call, the "Ne m'appelez plus" list, kept by the Do Not Call Me association, must be checked (Economic Code, articles VI.111 to VI.115).[4][5] | A Belgian webshop switchboard is screened like a consumer number. A specific consent prevails only if it is dated after registration on the list.[5] |
| Netherlands | The ACM allows calls to consumers and other natural persons, including an eenmanszaak, a vof and a maatschap, only with their consent, or under the exceptions it lists.[7] Telecommunications Act article 11.7, paragraph 2, extends prior consent to other means when the recipient is a natural person. Paragraph 3 drops that consent, for a legal person or a natural person acting in a business, only if the electronic contact details were published for receiving that kind of message and are used for that purpose, or if the recipient is outside the European Economic Area.[6] | A marketplace seller who is an eenmanszaak is not treated as a BV. An info@ address on a contact page is not, by itself, an address "intended for unsolicited commercial messages". |
| Luxembourg | No ILR, CNPD or Legilux page could be re-read here: Legilux serves an application, and the CNPD page sought returned 404. No Luxembourg rule is asserted. | Do not copy the French script or the Belgian list. Have the local rule read before the first call. |
Belgian fines, two official figures. The FPS Economy page refers to fines of up to 80,000 euros.[4] The guidelines of 9 February 2026 describe a level-2 sanction: a criminal fine of 260 to 100,000 euros, or up to 4% of annual turnover if that amount is higher (Economic Code, articles XV.70 and XV.83).[5] Cite the text you apply. Do not average the two.
Who picks up, by channel
On an own site, the useful meeting is with the person who decides on the tool, not with the consumer sales switchboard. Depending on the offer: e-commerce lead, operations, finance (payments) or logistics (returns, carriers). On a marketplace, the contact is often the founder, especially when the legal form is an eenmanszaak. In the Netherlands, that founder remains a natural person within the meaning of the ACM page, even if the shop sells to businesses all day.[7]
On an EDI flow, the contact is the person who owns inter-company orders: IT, supply chain, or both. Introducing that person as "the webshop's marketing manager" misses the subject. Eurostat does not give the share of these roles. Do not invent it. Ask at the first exchange.
The grid for a qualified meeting
Write the grid before launch. A meeting without these five lines is not qualified, in any country.
| Criterion | Qualified | Discard |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Own site, marketplace or EDI, named | "E-commerce" with no channel |
| Country and form | Country, and BV, SRL, SAS or eenmanszaak | A number with no legal form, especially in the Netherlands |
| Decision-maker | Name and role related to the offer | Consumer switchboard or an unqualified mobile |
| Basis of the call | France: offer linked to the profession, information and objection.[2] Belgium: number absent from the list, or later dated consent.[5] | An unscreened list, or an offer unrelated to the trade |
| Next step | A dated next step, with the right person | A slot with no subject |
Hypothesis, replace it with your own figures. You want 8 qualified meetings a month with webshops that already sell to other businesses. If, in your pipeline, 1 meeting in 4 opens a pilot, 8 meetings yield 2 pilots. That ratio is not a sector average: Eurostat does not measure it.[1]
The first 5 actions
- Split the file into three: own site, marketplace, EDI. Do not run the same argument on all three.
- In the Netherlands, mark the legal form before any call. Eenmanszaak, vof and maatschap: consent, according to the ACM.[7] A BV is not inferred from a trade name.
- In Belgium, screen every number against "Ne m'appelez plus", businesses included, and keep a dated proof of the check.[4][5]
- In France, call a professional only if the offer relates to that profession, name the organisation, and offer a simple objection. A consumer number stays under the consent rule in force since 11 August 2026.[2] The same split applies to email.[3]
- Write the grid, then have the Luxembourg rule read before calling there. This guide has not established it.
How to keep a call from sounding scripted is in the B2B call framework. The NIS2 perimeter of a webshop, which is separate from prospecting, is covered for Belgium and the Netherlands. For the Dutch market, see also the Amsterdam page.
At CyberNovaLabs.io
CyberNovaLabs.io sets B2B appointments for firms that sell to other firms, on a quote, per meeting or on a retainer, with no term commitment. Qualification criteria are written before launch. No volume is promised.
The offer is on the B2B appointment setting page. For a plan limited to e-commerce, with country and channel already split, describe the target.
Sources
- Eurostat, E-commerce statistics, données 2024 extraites en février 2026
- CNIL, Prospection commerciale par téléphone (hors automate d'appel)
- CNIL, La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique, SMS-MMS et automate d'appel
- SPF Economie, Votre entreprise fait du démarchage par téléphone ?
- SPF Economie, Guidelines relatives au marketing direct par téléphone, 9 février 2026
- Telecommunicatiewet, article 11.7, wetten.overheid.nl, version du 15 août 2026
- ACM, Verkoop via telemarketing
Qualified meetings, no lock-in.
Criteria in writing before launch, pay per meeting or monthly, stop with a simple email.
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